Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is

a subset of Romanticism

What is the time period of transcendentalism

1836 - 1860

Romanticism

1. revolt against reason and logic

2. reaction against science and interest in imagination

3. dedication to or defense of the individual/ fascination with outcasts

4. revival of pantheism or of Catholicism

5. Worship of emotions

6. Reverence for Nature, Supernatural, Rural, Rustic

7. Love of the Exotic

8. Rejection of artistic convention and emphasis on the mind of the artist

Transcendentalism is an ideal spiritual state which \_________ the physical and empirical.

transcends

Transcendentalism is a loose collection of eclectic\__________________

literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and American culture

True or False

Transcendentalism had different meanings for persons involved in the movement

true

Ralph Waldo Emerson credited who for popularizing the term transcendentalism

Immanuel Kant

Transcendentalism isn't a religion but a \__________________

philosophy or form of spirituality

What essay did Ralph Waldo Emerson write?

Nature

What did transcendentalists believe?

The human soul is part of an Oversoul or a universal spirit, therefore transcendentalists were core believers of equality and respected each individual as they were all a portion of the Oversoul

Basic Premise \#1 of Transcendentalism

The individual is the spiritual center of the universe, and in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history, and ultimately the universe itself - you are the answer to you

Basic Premise \#2 of Transcendentalism

The structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the individual self - all knowledge, therefore, begins with self-knowledge. This is similar to Socrates' dictum "know thyself" - if you know yourself, you know the universe

Basic Premise \#3 of Transcendentalism

Through careful observation of nature, they believed the human spirit is reflected in the natural world - nature is a mystery and full of signs; nature is symbolic

Basic Premise \#4 of Transcendentalism

The belief that individual virtue and happiness depend upon self-realization- depends on the balance of two universal psychological tendencies:

1. the desire to embrace the whole world - to know and become one with the world

2. the desire to withdraw, remain unique and separate - an egotistical existence

Key Transcendentalists

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Sarah Margaret Fuller

Ralph Waldo Emerson

a unitarian ministers, poet and essayists, founded the Transcendental Club, popular lecturer who was banned from Harvard for 40 years after his Divinity School address, supporter of abolitionism

Henry David Thoreau

schoolteacher, essayist, poet, known for Walden and Civil Disobedience, influenced the environmental movement, supporter of abolitionism

Sarah Margaret Fuller

journalist, critic, women's right activist, editor of the Dial- a transcendentalist journal, first female journalists to work on a major newspaper- the New York Tribune, taught at Alcott's Temple School

Self- Reliance is written by

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Main ideas of Self-Reliance

1. self-reliance, individuality

2. working for yourself

3. trusting yourself

4. don't be influenced by society and try to change yourself

5. be nonconformist, don't give up

6. always challenge yourself

epigraph

short quotations at the beginning of the book- meant to set the theme

What does the epigraph state?

create your own destiny/fate, there is no such thing as predestiny, celebrates individuality

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance, that imitation is suicide, that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till"

we should all accept our station in life, work with what we are given- not just working with what your have but working hard and trying your best

Kernel of corn metaphor

relatable to the main profession at the time- agriculture

"Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string. "

refers to an iron string because iron is very strong, trusting, reliable material

aphorism

a concise statement of a principle or precept given in pointed words

ie. Trust thyself

allusion to the "divine providence" and "the Almighty" and contrasts with "chaos" and "the dark"

give the sense of a high spirit contrasted with hell

How does Emerson view society?

It is in conspiracy against manhood of every one of its members. Society is a constant competition

Joint-Stock company

a company's stocks held by a shareholders society - everyone has a share of the stock

What point does Emerson make through comparing society to a joint stock company?

being a part of society means giving up our individuality/independence

"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world"

set yourself free of blame, the only place that can give you freedom is in your own mind- trust yourself, rely on yourself

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

What does Emerson mean when he refers to the "hobgoblin of little minds"?

He is mocking, diminishing the people who don't have their own thoughts and just follow the crowd

What does Emerson believe about consistency?

there is no challenge in consistency, no way to grow

"to be great is to be misunderstood"

He wants his audience to do something different with their lives

Nature

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What does retrospective mean?

looking to or dealing with past events

Emerson critiques society by

pointing out how society builds sepulchers - how we focus too much on the past

True or False

Emerson believes that people used to have "personal, original" connections to God and nature

true

"We, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?"

We, as a society, are not fulfilling the personal connection to God and nature, we are only connecting through past connections. We should have our own chance to make our own unique, direct connections with God and nature.

Emerson asserts in the first line that "we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable."

He means that everything has an answer and the answers can be found in the perfection of creation/nature

The aim of all science is to

find the theory of nature

"Whenever a \___________ appears, it will be its own \___________"

true theory, evidence

the truth will explain all of its phenomenon, explain the theory in the truth

The universe is composed of which two things

Nature and Soul

Nature includes

- both nature and art

- all other men and my own physical body

Soul includes

- one's essence or inmost nature

Emerson defines nature as...

essences unchanged by man

Emerson defines art as...

a mixture of his will and natural things

Why would Emerson say that an individual is " not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me?"

Emerson wants to do experience solitude- our own thoughts, nature, and other ideas and thoughts are with us while we are alone

"the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet"

both the timber and tree are made of wood, but the difference is how people see, use, embrace them

"The sun illuminates only the \_______________, but shines into the \____________________________"

eye of the man, eye and heart of the child

Emerson argues that we lose our self-confidence and individuality as we grow and age. We become more superficial in our interactions and miss the greater meaning

Emerson stresses that in nature

we return to reason and faith

"I become a transparent eye ball"

We need to involve our entire being in seeing everything and being truly open

"I am nothing"

means that the individual is no longer separated from nature, he is beginning the idea of being "one with" nature

"I see all"

A person will be able to understand more

"the currents of Universal Being circulate through me"

By being connected to the Universal Being, an individual could also then be connected to nature, God, others, universe, ourselves

Civil Disobedience

written by Henry David Thoreau

"Government is at best an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient"

Governments are at best practical, but most governments are inconvenient and immoral

What does Thoreau believe about morality and law?

He believes that morality should be determined by conscience, NOT LAW.

"I think we should be men first, and subject afterward"

focus on being your own person, on your own morals, then follow the law - only follow the law if your conscience allows

What are the three type of men Thoreau describes?

1. wooden men - useless men

2. leaders - uses reason, but don't make moral decisions

3. wise men - follow their own morals

What does Thoreau mean by saying wise men "will not submit to be clay and stop a hole to keep the wind away"?

they will not be molded or confined by society

Shakespeare's quote: " I am too high born to be propertied/to be secondary at control/or useful serving man and instrument/to any sovereign state throughout the world"

I am to high born to be used like a tool, to be useless - He is saying to be self-reliant, have your own nature/soul

Why does Thoreau hate the government?

He believes that the government is invasive and unnecessary; they are too complicated

- transcendentalist didn't care much during the revolution or about high taxes, but as soon as the government brought up the issue of slavery, transcendentalists have an issue because it contradicts their morals - believes in freedom, equality because of the Oversoul

What is Emerson's view on voting?

He believes that voting is a gamble, voting does accomplishes nothing except show everyone's opinions, he believes in action

Why does Emerson allude to Christ, Copernicus, Luther, Washington, and Franklin?

They were all great men who were condemned by the government, believed that the government was silencing their voices and doesn't have the peoples' best interest at heart

What are Thoreau's thoughts on changing law?

He believes that they take too long to put into action, to change the law.

What is Thoreau's solution?

Disobey the law - if their is something that your disagree with, or doesn't align with your moral compass, you simply don't follow the law

What explain did Thoreau provide of his solution?

He didn't pay poll taxes for six years and was thrown in jail

To Thoreau, what was stronger than prison?

His own thoughts and his freedom was stronger than being confined to prison walls

What does civil disobedience mean?

your right to non-violently agree or disagree with laws

Walden

Henry David Thoreau

Why does Thoreau do to the Walden pond?

He wishes to live deliberately, to live simply. He thinks that life is too complicated - too many details, too many tasks. We need to live life simply to experience life to the fullest

How does nature affect Thoreau?

He is calm, soothed - even though the weather is very extreme and dangerous.

What does Thoreau think about solitude?

Solitude is time for him to be connected to nature, to himself. He is able to immerse himself in his own thoughts.

- Physically apart but united under the Oversoul

"I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another"

We are all connected in our thoughts, which transcends all physical barriers